Tribological and Mechanical Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Reinforced Copper Composites

Abstract

The powder metallurgy technique is utilized in this study to produce Cu matrix hybrid composites with ZrO2 reinforcements and graphite additives. This study compares composites' microstructural (theoretical, experimental, and relative density, phase morphology, type, chemical content), mechanical (microhardness), and tribological behavior (wear and friction) with 5, 10, and 15 wt% reinforcement, together with and without the effect of 2 wt% graphite additives. The hardness of the composites increased as the amount of ZrO2 increased with the addition of graphite. The wear resistance of ZrO2-doped copper samples was improved between 1.32 and 4.84 times better than that of copper without reinforcement.